Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-05-23

TAKE san FRANCISCO tOr tnstance' ~
,,e years observation we found lOle
mortgages given for S6,575, 99s upon
property assessed at S5,l6l, $50" As
San Francisco money lenders do not
end over 30 per cent. of the value OF
he property in any case, and as many
# their loans are made to men who want
10 borrow but 5 or 10 per cent. OF the
value of their property, it is fair to as.
8 ,me that Is per cent. would represent
the average proportion of the loan to tt
value of the land, which would give Us
our S3S, ,0OO,O 600 as escaping taxation
upon lands subject to mortgage alone,
and shows an assessment OF less than IL
per cent. Of the actual value, The
Board says further; "These figures are
C onclusive answers to all the arguments
advanced in favor of the judgment of
one assessor" We will give few dis.
extracts from the same report
for the benefit of Mr.. "Monte" and
those whom he is trying to bring to his
view of the case These extracts are
from the report of the State Board-for
1856.
"There is undoubtedly an inequality be.
tween the assessment of land and PERSONAL
property. The real estate OF the farmer
and the city lot owner is exposed 20 view, &
s.. In aa hp npuaaalad from the
Assessor But the merchant is his own as
SCISSOR, $3.50, ,104 of county bonds were not
assessed. Add TO this the amount OF city
bonds, and the amount which escapes Is
enormous Money also escapes assessment.
s25, 600, 600 was in this State on the first Mon
day in March. of which only se. .5o0.OoO were
assessed. Here is property ltelegrspn
lines in value running into the millons,
assessed for sbout $500. .00O-not enough 10
pay for the poles. We find some difficulty
IN enforcing the rules we lay down for the
guidance Of Assessors. To refuse 10 give
statements In San Francisco is looked upon
by some as business proposition. In 1875
the State Board OF Equalization, by an or
der, increased the assessment OF the city
ana county of San Franc cisco. and directed
the Auditor of said city and county to add
the percentage OF increase to the assess
ment. He refused TO do SO, alleging that
the Board was an unconstitutional BODY.
The value of merchandise assessed N san
Francisco is sl5,7l2,7s3."
Now, here are half dozen admissions
that the Assessor of San Francisco does
as he likes. The Auditor snubs the
Board. and the property owners refuse
to give statements. Nearly all the city,
county and railway bonds are owned in
San francisco. Over $50, 900, 600 OF
these escape assessment. OF the Sl5,.
600, 600 of cash reported above as escap'
ing taxation, over $4,000, 600 was held
in San Francisco and the Bay counties.
The merchandise in San Francisco
should be assessed at at least $50, ,000, 600
Mr.. "Monte" takes the unfair course Of
comparing recent sales with the assess
ment of some parcels of property in this
county made on the lst of March, 1856
The City Hall lot which he cites was
sold only the other day for Sl20, 000
1t could not have been sold on the lst Of
March, 1886, for more than one.third o.
that sum. He says:
sixty acres southw est of city limits, neal
the University, appraised at $6s,4oo, as
sessed at $1,000"
Every fair.minded man will admi
that this appraisement is much too high
and that the assessment of last year wal
nearer the value of the property on the
first OF March, 1886. than the appraise
ment is at the present time. Any one
who will take the trouble to search th'
rolls of San Francisco, San Mateo, Santi
Clara and Alameda counties can fine
more glaring discrepancies than an.
cited by MIR. "Monte."
1t must be remembered that we sale
nothing about the assessment of this
county until certain members Of the
State Board came here, and until they
and Mr.. "Monte" and others of hi:
stripe were endeavoring by every means
in their power to induce Mr.. Mason tc
make an assessment out OF all proper
ton to the value Of the property, and
several hundred.per cent greater than
the values adopted by Assessors in Other
counties. The Assessor in one county
up north was assessing land at $40 per
acre that was rented for $3.50 and was
worth 5000, but he declined to accede
to the request of the State Board to
increase the assessment. They left him,
and came here hoping to find an Asses.
sor they could influence more easily.
There are fifty-two counties in this
State, and the State Board have from
the 7th of March to the lst
OF August TO examine into the
assessment rolls of all these counties, OF
less than two days to each county; and
yet they are so solicitious for the welfare
of Los Angeles county that they spend
several weeks in our neighborhood. We
may as well admit the fact, that is
patent to all, that the entire northern
and central part of this State looks with
envy and hatred upon our section. And
it would be we'll for our Assessor to ad.
NIT the fact, also patent to all but the
"Montes," that all those portions of the
State are endeavoring to escape fair tax.
alton, and are secretipg personal prop
erty by millions upon millions, and that
many OF their Assessors are assessing
real estate at from Is to 20 per cent. of
it's value. That the State Board con-
sidered our last assessment a fair one
with reference to the rest of the State
may be gathered from the first page Of
their Report, in which they say;
'In 1856 no increase was made, as by re-
ference TO the table OF percentage of in
creaee and decrease Of valuations, 1t is
seen that the decrease is so slight as not to
warrant any increase by the Board"
As Los Angeles county had increased
her assessment $4,747, 1897. and some of
the northern and central counties de.
o,oosad ,ba;,s elO eAo Ooe tho,. oo..,1